Implementing Common Core:
A Focus on Early Literacy
Module 1 – Overview of ELA
Common Core State Standards for
Elementary Administrators
Presenters:
LaRae Blomquist, Geri Keskeys, and
Arthetta Meeks
April 2013

Outcomes:
Participants will understand the:
1. Connection between reading-foundational skills and reading comprehension
2. Foundation of speaking/listening standards
3. Reading-literature and readinginformational text standards
4. Connection between reading and writing

Module Design
 Administrative perspective
 Balance between information and application
 Depth vs. breadth
 Take-away (and bring back) resources

Logistics
Contents of binder:
• CCSS
• Resources/notes
• Shanahan on Literacy blog post!!
• Possible resources for PLC work
• Handouts for the training
Please bring your binders to each meeting.

Parking Lot
Please write questions that tangentially relate to this module 1 training (e.g., will you be addressing structured student interaction during the K-2 training?) on a post-it note, and place it on the parking lot at an appropriate time.

Logistics Continued
Handouts/powerpoints found on the EGUSD website for CCSS

Purpose of Modules
 Provide intense CCSS curricular training for elementary administrators
 Support individual sites with a variety of resources that may be strategically used
NOTE: This is not meant to be a TOT-approach to CCSS early literacy.

Purpose of THIS Module
 Provide an overview of
CCSS to set the context for upcoming modules
 Address some immediately applicable
CCSS issues from an administrative perspective with a focus on grades K-3

One Early Literacy CCSS Shift
• Simultaneous work of learning to read AND reading to make meaning
+

“The low-level literacy work of sound-letter correspondence and so on—work that dominated the National Reading Panel report
(2000) that has undergirded NCLB for years— has been, thankfully, marginalized in its own separate section of the CCSS. That work doesn’t even qualify as part of the reading and writing standards. Reading, in the Common
Core, is making meaning.”
--Dr. Lucy Calkins (p.24 Pathways to the Common Core)

Reading-Foundational Skills
1. Print Concepts
2. Phonological Awareness
3. Phonics and Word Recognition
4. Fluency

“Accomplishment of foundational standards in the early grades should not be thought of as a prerequisite to other aspects of the ELA standards. Instruction in foundational skills should occur in concert with instruction related to Reading, Writing, Speaking and
Listening, and Language” (Overturf &
Shanahan et.al., 2012).

READING in CCSS - Activity

READING in CCSS - Activity

READING in CCSS - Activity

READING in CCSS –
Activity
DIRECTIONS – In partners:
1. Examine the 4 color-blocked pages
2. Physically arrange handouts from K-3 rd based on content and proportionate amount of time
3. Be prepared to discuss rationale
( 3 minutes)

READING in CCSS – Activity
Discussion Questions:
 How do the size and presence of the colored blocks graphically inform your understanding of Reading-
Foundational Skills?
 As you analyze the areas that decrease and in some cases drop off, what are the implications for you as an administrator?
 What interventions are currently in place or need to be in place?

READING in CCSS – Activity
Points to Ponder:
 As you visit classrooms, do the blocks of time represent instructional minute allotment?
 Speaking/Listening boxes remain the same size; what is the significance for classroom instruction?

Outcome #1 – “Big Ideas”
Connection between reading-foundational skills and reading comprehension
Targeted intervention
Explicit instruction for both foundational skills AND comprehension
Prominence of Speaking &
Listening

Speaking and Listening Standards
Comprehension and Collaboration
 Standards 1-3
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
 Standards 4-6

Examination of S/L Standards
RESOURCES NEEDED:
• Standards document
• Progression of Speaking & Listening handout
BLUE HANDOUT IN BINDER

Compare CCSS Verbiage to
Progression Handout

Examining the Standards Activity
DIRECTIONS
1. Read through the standards progression handout horizontally.
2. Once complete, read the document vertically
3. Note the use of common terminology and expectations between
S/L and Reading standards.
Table Discussion:
• What type of student interactions do you most often observe in classrooms?

Structured Student Interaction
Speaking/Listening - CCSS
Gradual Release of Responsibility
Explicit Direct Instruction (TAPPLE)
ELD Modes of Communication

Components of SSI
Read and Discuss:
 What components of SSI are most absent in the average classroom?

Assessing
Structured Student Interaction
 Consider the components of exemplary SSI.
 View the video to determine which components exist.
 If the SSI viewed was typical of all teachers at the school, what predictions could be made about which students would be able to demonstrate learning?

Connection to ELD

Outcome #2 – “Big Ideas”
Foundation of speaking/listening standards
Parallel S/L and Reading expectations
Structured student interaction expectations
S/L connection to ELD modes of communication

Outcome #3 – Understanding the
Reading Standards

Evaluating Quality Reading
Questions
DIRECTIONS:
 Examine Exhibit A (green handout)
 Exhibit A lists the Open Court questions for each selection.
 In partners, evaluate the rigor of the questions based on your understanding of Bloom’s
Taxonomy, Costa’s Levels of Questions, and/or
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge.

Elevating Rigor
• As a table group, use your prior knowledge of the story,
“Cinderella,” to write 1-2 questions that require higherlevel thinking. (4 minutes)
• Be prepared to share your best question with the group.

“Map” the Reading Standards for
Higher-Level Questions Created
 Examine the standards on p. 1 to determine the CCSS alignment.
questions based on Bloom’s
Taxonomy (et al) versus basing a question on a CCSS reading standard?

AH-HAs
A focus on criticalthinking without an emphasis on standards alignment will present an obstacle to implementing the CCSS.

A Look at CCSS-Aligned Questions
But first… a reminder of the organization and relationship of the reading standards.

Inter-relationship of Reading
Standards 1-10
CCSS #1 Reading Comprehension– cite evidence
(explicit & inferential)
CCSS #2-9 Specific standards w/expectations
CCSS #10 Comprehend grade-level literature

Text-Dependent Nature of Reading
Standards

Differences Between Text
Dependent vs. Text Related vs . Text
Inspired Questions
• Text Dependent
• Text Related literal, “right there” questions. They are questions that require an examination of the text and ask students to critically think.
• Text Inspired

Avoiding Implementation Pitfalls
 Design questions by looking at the standards rather than starting with the text selection.
 Recognize that not all selections will be appropriate vehicles for some standards.

Compare/Contrast Exhibit A & C
As an administrator, you will not need to craft reading questions, but you WILL need to recognize if the questions you observe in classes are aligned to CCSS.
DISCUSS:
• What makes the Exhibit C questions discernible as aligned to CCSS?
• How do they vary from the former standards?

Anchor Standards - Reading

Using the Anchor Standards to
“Own” Big Picture about to be addressed are NOT to be confused with what we think of as power standards.
• Not in legal-size document
• Intended to define intent of each standard
• Exist for all 4 ELA strands: reading, writing, speaking/listening, and language

Drilling Down for Key Standards
PINK HANDOUT

Drilling Down for Key Standards
DIRECTIONS:
 Examine Reading-Lit standard 5 and
Reading-Info Text standard 7.
 Trace how those key standards build.
 Compare how they relate to the anchor standard.

Debrief
• How might the anchor standards aid you as an administrator?
• Would it be valuable to share anchor standards with your site at this time? Why or why not?

Additional Resources
Thank you,
Delaware
Department of
Education!

Additional Resources
 Legend for graphic organizer
 Literary concept organizer
 Grade-specific question frames/examples

Additional Resources
 Legend for graphic organizer

Additional Resources
 Literary concept organizer

Additional Resources
 Grade-specific question frames/examples

Outcome #3 – “Big Ideas”
Understanding the reading-literature and reading-informational text standards
Reading #1 – umbrella for reading comprehension
#2-#9 require purposeful questioning
Anchor standards provide intent of standard

Outcome #4 – Connecting Reading to Writing

Organization of Standards
(pp. 4-5)
• Text Type and Purposes (1-3)
1. Opinion/argument
2. Informational Explanatory
3. Narrative
• Production and Distribution of Writing (4-6)
• Research to Build and Present Knowledge (7-9)
• Range of Writing (10)

Sort Activity
PURPOSE:
1.
Clarify what is meant by “connecting reading to writing.”

SORT Activity
Sort the writing prompts into two piles—those prompts that demand critical thinking from students vs. those prompts that are more likely to require recall/literal reading comprehension

Debrief “Answers”
• Critical-Thinking Prompts: A, B, F, G, H
•
Recall/Literal Reading
Recall/Literal Reading Comprehension: C, D, E prompts tend to be created by starting with the text rather than a reading standard!

“Map” Critical-Thinking Prompts to
Reading Standards
In partners:
1.Look at the prompts that are deemed as needing more critical thinking.
2.Identify which reading standard corresponds to each writing prompt.

Reflection/Discussion Questions
• What AH-HAs did you have?
• As an instructional/curriculum leader, what steps would you need to take to determine where your staff is with regard to connecting reading to writing?
• Where might you start to gather such information?

Outcome #4 – “Big Ideas”
Connection between reading and writing
Start with a reading standard.
Next, determine purpose of writing (W 1-3).
Consider writing task AS the assessment

Evaluations
•Please fill out the evaluation forms provided.
•Specific feedback is greatly appreciated in the comment section to better address the needs of administrators.